Broke my 5th(pinky) metatarsal in a non guitar related mishap and am casted from elbow to fingertips. Thumb, index, and ring are usable.
Gave the guitar a try, downstrums are ok, upstrums a challenge. I always thought I was a stiff wrist strummer, but apparently was using it more than I knew. Fingerpicking pretty well a write off.
I was just getting rolling good on David's "Eleanor Rigby", but I guess I'm scuppered on that as palm muting is out of the question right now.
So, guess I'll work on the picking and downstokes for the next three weeks. Any suggestions on stiff wristed strummers I can emulate? I think Harrison was one?
I'd brush up on theory while your laid up, Hey Vic what did you do when you broke your arm?
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A fellow I've known for several years crushed his eblow, and beat up a nerve. It's his strumming hand, so he can still fret fine. He plays more acoustic based strumming stuff know, but it seems to work alrigth for him. Apparently it took qutie some time to get used to it, but he'll have about 10 weeks in a cast at least.
Vacate is the word...Vengance has no place on me or her...Cannot find a comfort in this world.
I broke my collarbone 2 summers ago in a bicycle accident. I could still play, but had to play sitting down for about 2 months.
What an experience...
I broke my collarbone 2 summers ago in a bicycle accident. I could still play, but had to play sitting down for about 2 months.
What an experience...
I tore my left trap, and also had to play sitting down. I always play my acoustic sitting down, but never my electric. It was very strange. I had to change hand/wrist posistions and everything. It's strange how something like that can make you need to relearn some techniques.
Vacate is the word...Vengance has no place on me or her...Cannot find a comfort in this world.
so yah, i broke my arm 2 days into the summer about 2 years into my playing, and that sucked. I was pretty bad at guitar back then, but then when i broke it i couldnt play at all. That summer sucked, but i really made me miss guitar playing. i dont think id be playing today if i hadnt broken my arm back then.
aka Izabella
Slight difference in circumstances - I broke my left arm, use my right for strumming - I was in a cast from elbow to wrist, but for the first three weeks it was waaaaay too painful to even try - last week the cast was on, I managed to play a little slide....I was just sooooo relieved when it came off....
First thing I did when I got home was pick up a guitar - the arm was weak, and it was a little painful at first, but I persevered - took me about 4-5 days to get back to normal....
So you have my sympathy. I know what you're going through....
THINGS TO DO WHEN YOUR ARM'S IN PLASTER.....
1 - Sit and watch the Mrs doing the housework, and say "I'd offer to help, love, but....."
2 - Ask for a cup of tea/biscuits/a beer etc....it's the only time you're likely to get one....
3 - Learn to play slide guitar with your toes (suggested by a nameless player of Telecasters, I do hope his tongue
was firmly in cheek....)
4 - And after you've mastered that, try playing slide lap-steel-style by putting the slide over your RH index finger
and picking with the other fingers of the same hand.....
5 - Take socks off which you've struggled for half an hour to get on and go back to #3
6 - Get better at blues harp
7 - Quote Lloyd Bridges from "Airplane" - "Boy did I pick the wrong week to quit smoking!" - consider starting
smoking again, but reject the idea - cellophane is hard to remove one handed....
8 - Make sure dog is asleep before kicking her - you don't want to overbalance and make her feel even more guilty
when you fall awkwardly on the other arm....
9 - Compile list of phrases people say in jest...."How are you enjoying your break?" "Enjoy your trip?" "Not the first
time you've been plastered, is it?"....etc etc etbloodycetera
10 - Compile list of "People to kill when better"
11 - Learn to make good use of the Caps Lock key - easier than stretching and contorting, holding shift key down
with finger or thumb whilst peering over back of hand to find "t" or "h".....
12 - Make list of jobs to do when better
13 - Look longingly at guitars
14 - Throw list of jobs to do when better in bin, make list of "songs to record when better"
15 - Wonder whether to write song called "Broken Arm Blues" which will probably end with the lines:
"And the reason why I'm singing this song accapella?
"I'm a broken-hearted, broken-armed, broke-down fella....."
16 - Remember to buy bulldog clips - new books are difficult to read one-handed, it might help to clip pages already
viewed together....
17 - Add "7 lots of rusty strings to change" to things to do when better list
18 - practise right hand keyboard technique
19 - Suggested by N. Torres esq....learn some music theory
20 - learn to read music in other words, read Noteboat's two articles instead of staring glassy-eyed at them - and having
read them, learn and inwardly digest
21 - maybe, finally, get around to learning every note on every position on the fretboard.....
22 - maybe, finally, get around to learning some scales.....
23 - cast mind back a few months to when I jokingly replied to some post "I'd give my left arm to be ambidextrous...."
what I actually meant to say was "I'd give my left arm for a lottery win...." - OK, I've kept my part of the bargain....
24 - forget any daydreams of sitting undisturbed with feet up when recalling you're the only person who can actually
reach the top shelf.....
25 - invest heavily in Velcro - laces and buttons are a total %8&* single-handedly
26 - groan inwardly whenever the words "single-handed" "second-hand" "one-handed" "on the other hand" are used....
27 - smile inwardly - well alright, break into hysterical inward laughter - at the thought of not being able to clean up
dog mess from back yard - my favourite job......
28 - ponder on the fact that when you get an itch, it'll be exactly half-way between the top and bottom of the plaster
and no one in this household owns any knitting needles.....
29 - groan inwardly at the thought of having to build up those callouses all over again.....
30 - work out how many songs I know use A D and E - practise bass riffs one-handed, using open strings......
31 - ask for help to get top off bottle containing painkillers - how the hell are you supposed to get a child-proof lid off a
tablet bottle with one hand.....
32 - celebrate Liverpool winning a cup match by throwing one arm in the air.....and everyone knows you can't watch
football on TV without a beer or several or so, so make mental note to self - strong cider is a good painkiller in
itself, as is watching your team win .....so go easy on painkillers, you don't want to be scraped off the ceiling by
Marilyn, in a bad mood, at 3 am.......
33 - start half a mexican wave?
34 - open a packet of crisps with scissors....then glare at dog when she looks at you hopefully, snarl "This is all your
**** fault, and smile triumphantly as she slinks away......
35 - listen to music - sure as hell can't play any........
36 - think again about #29, keep rubbing fingertips together, rub fingertips on desk when not busy - been doing that
for 2 weeks now, callouses are still there.....
37 - steal dog's rubber ball - it's all her fault anyway! - and squeeze it to keep finger strength up.....
38 - chat with GN contacts on MSN - might not do much for left hand, but one-handed typing builds up right hand
finger speed - should help with fingerpicking
39 - carry out exercises physiotherapist has given you - a hard one, this, since most of them seem to involve tying
broken fingers in the kind of knots only boy scouts can do.....
40 - wish you'd gone to Boy Scouts as a kid.......
41 - give dog a belly-rub - she's been so attentive and so contrite - doesn't like plaster though.....
42 - push Marilyn uphill to station, carry wheelchair on train, push wheelchair one-handed across the busiest street in
Liverpool to get her to Crown Court for Jury Service......when you finally get there, and drop her off, go see the
sights of Liverpool
43 - Swear a lot at aching right arm - the one that pushed the wheelchair.....
44 - swear a lot more at the ***** who designed the wheelchair ramp at the side of St Johns Market - it's just as
hard to get down a 1-in-3 gradient as it is to get up it......
45 - congratulate self, one-handed typing is getting a lot faster......
46 - have another pain-killing cider......
47 - e-mail everyone who's been sympathetic and sent good wishes.....
48 - 47 should take a couple of days, so forget it and say "Thanks to everyone who's wished me well" - that's a lot of
you.....
49 - commiserate with smiller4597 who's also had a bad accident - his is probably worse than mine, severed nerves
and tendons are a hell of a lot harder to get over than a simple fracture or two or three and a torn muscle.....
50 - post "50 things to do when your arm's in plaster" on GN.........
51 - count the hours minutes and seconds till the plaster comes off next friday........
52 - see 50 - learn to count.......
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
Excellent advice, I think. Don't like cider, but explored use of dark ales as painkiller. Pain in head making me forget pain in hand.
